CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER XIII. CHAPTER XIV. CHAPTER XV. CHAPTER XVI. CHAPTER XVII. CHAPTER XVIII. CHAPTER XIX. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. 1 CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER XIII. CHAPTER XIV. CHAPTER XV. CHAPTER XVI. CHAPTER XVII. CHAPTER XVIII. CHAPTER XIX. Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the by John S. C. Abbott The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the Mississippi, by John S. C. Abbott This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the Mississippi American Pioneers and Patriots Author: John S. C. Abbott Release Date: June 20, 2009 [EBook #29172] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FERDINAND DE SOTO *** Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) FERDINAND DE SOTO, THE DISCOVERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI BY JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. NEW YORK: DODD & MEAD, No. 762 BROADWAY. 1873. Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the by John S. C. Abbott 2 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by DODD & MEAD, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. WM. MCCREA & CO., Stereotypers, LANGE, LITTLE & HILLMAN, Newburgh, N. Y. PRINTERS, 108 TO 114 WOOSTER STREET, N. Y. AMERICAN PIONEERS AND PATRIOTS. FERDINAND DE SOTO. THE DISCOVERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI. BY JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. ILLUSTRATED. NEW YORK: DODD & MEAD, No. 762 BROADWAY. 1873. [Illustration] PREFACE. Mr. Theodore Irving, in his valuable history of the "Conquest of Florida," speaking of the astonishing achievements of the Spanish Cavaliers, in the dawn of the sixteenth century says: "Of all the enterprises undertaken in this spirit of daring adventure, none has surpassed, for hardihood and variety of incident, that of the renowned Hernando de Soto, and his band of cavaliers. It was poetry put in action. It was the knight-errantry of the old world carried into the depths of the American wilderness. Indeed the personal adventures, the feats of individual prowess, the picturesque description of steel-clad cavaliers, with lance and helm and prancing steed, glittering through the wildernesses of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the prairies of the Far West, would seem to us mere fictions of romance, did they not come to us recorded in matter of fact narratives of contemporaries, and corroborated by minute and daily memoranda of eye-witnesses." These are the wild and wondrous adventures which I wish here to record. I have spared no pains in obtaining the most accurate information which the records of those days have transmitted to us. It is as wrong to traduce the dead as the living. If one should be careful not to write a line which dying he would wish to blot, he should also endeavor to write of the departed in so candid and paternal a spirit, while severely just to the truth of history, as to be safe from reproach. One who is aiding to form public opinion respecting another, who has left the world, should remember that he may yet meet the departed in the spirit land. And he may perhaps be greeted with the words, "Your condemnation was too severe. You did not make due allowance for the times in which I lived. You have held up my name to unmerited reproach." Careful investigation has revealed De Soto to me as by no means so bad a man as I had supposed him to have been. And I think that the candid reader will admit that there was much, in his heroic but melancholy career, which calls for charitable construction and sympathy. The authorities upon which I have mainly relied for my statements, are given in the body of the work. There is no country on the globe, whose early history is so full of interest and instruction as our own. The writer feels Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the by John S. C. Abbott 3 grateful to the press, in general, for the kindly spirit in which it has spoken of the attempt, in this series, to interest the popular reader in those remarkable incidents which have led to the establishment of this majestic republic. CONTENTS. Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the by John S. C. Abbott 4 CHAPTER I. Childhood and Youth. PAGE Birthplace of Ferdinand De Soto Spanish Colony at Darien Don Pedro de Avila, Governor of Darien Vasco Nuñez Famine Love in the Spanish Castle Character of Isabella Embarrassment of De Soto Isabella's Parting Counsel. 9 CHAPTER I. 5 CHAPTER II. The Spanish Colony. Character of De Soto Cruel Command of Don Pedro Incident The Duel Uracca Consternation at Darien Expedition Organized Uracca's Reception of Espinosa and his Troops The Spaniards Retreat De Soto Indignant Espinosa's Cruelty, and Deposition from Command. 21 CHAPTER II. 6 CHAPTER III. Life at Darien. Reinforcements from Spain Aid sent to Borrica Line of Defense Chosen by the Natives Religion of the Buccaneers The Battle and the Rout Strategy of Uracca Cruelty of Don Pedro The Retreat Character of Uracca Embarrassment of Don Pedro Warning of M. Codro Expedition of Pizarro Mission of M. Codro Letter of De Soto to Isabella. 37 CHAPTER III. 7 CHAPTER IV. Demoniac Reign. Giles Gonzales Unsuccessful Contest of De Soto with Gonzales Bold Reply of De Soto to the Governor Cruelty of Don Pedro to M. Codro Assassination of Cordova New Expedition of Discovery Revenge upon Valenzuela Reign of Don Pedro at Nicaragua Unwise Decision of De Soto. 55 CHAPTER IV. 8 CHAPTER V. The Invasion of Peru. The Kingdom of Peru Its Metropolis The Desperate Condition of Pizarro Arrival of De Soto Character of the Spaniards Exploring Tour of De Soto The Colony at San Miguel The General Advance Second Exploration of De Soto Infamous Conduct of the Pizarros. 72 CHAPTER V. 9 CHAPTER VI. The Atrocities of Pizarro. Fears of Pizarro Honorable Conduct of the Inca The March to Caxamarca Hospitable Reception Perfidious Attack upon the Inca His Capture and Imprisonment The Honor of De Soto The Offered Ransom Treachery and Extortion of Pizarro. 90 CHAPTER VI. 10 [...]... Capaha. The Return Journey. The March Southward. Salt Springs. The Savages of Tula. Their Ferocity. Anecdote. Despondency of De Soto 315 22 CHAPTER XIX 23 CHAPTER XIX Death of De Soto Ascent of the Mississippi. Revenge of Guachoya. Sickness of De Soto. Affecting Leave-taking. His Death and Burial. The March for Mexico. Return to the Mississippi. Descent of the River. Dispersion of the Expedition. Death of. .. in the Wilderness. Peril of the Army. Friendly Relations. The Escape from the Wilderness. They Reach the Frontiers of Cofachiqui. Dismissal of Patofa. Wonderful Reception by the Princess of Cofachiqui 220 CHAPTER XIV 18 CHAPTER XIV The Indian Princess Crossing the River. Hospitable Reception. Attempts to visit the Queen Mother. Suicide of the Prince. Futile search for Gold. The Discovery of Pearls. The. .. evidently determined to exterminate the whole band It so happened that De Soto, with his dragoons, had left Pizarro's band, and in a military incursion into the country, was approaching the bay where Espinosa had landed his troops Suddenly the clamor of the conflict burst upon his ear the shouts of the Indian warriors and the cry of the fugitive Spaniards His little band put spurs to their horses and. .. closely, and with such fierce assailment, that large numbers of the rank and file perished The officers and the dragoons of De Soto, wearing defensive armor, generally escaped unharmed The remnant at length, weary and famine-stricken, reached their ships and immediately put to sea With the exception of De Soto's dragoons, they numbered but fifty men Deeply despondent in view of their disastrous campaign, they... their stronghold They were well aware that the band of warriors before them was but the advanced guard of the great army of Uracca These eight hundred natives were led by one of Uracca's brothers Even should these Indians be attacked and repulsed, they had only to retreat a few miles, cross the river Arva in their canoes, and on the northern banks join the formidable army of twenty thousand men under... dread The Spaniards had taught the natives cruelty They had hunted them down with bloodhounds; they had cut off their hands with the sword; they had fed their dogs with their infants; had tortured them at slow fires and cast their children into the flames They could not expect that the natives could be more merciful than the Spaniards had been Don Pedro, instead of waiting the arrival of his foes, decided... his idolatry With these he could not only again claim the hand of Isabella, but the haughty Don Pedro would eagerly seek the alliance of a man of wealth and renown Thousands of adventurers were then crowding to the shores of the New World, lured by the accounts of the boundless wealth which it was said could there be found, and inspired by the passion which then pervaded Christendom, of obtaining CHAPTER... intricacies of rocks and gullies and gigantic forest trees, when suddenly he opened upon them such a shower of poisoned arrows as the Spaniards had never encountered before The touch of one of these arrows, breaking the skin, caused immediate and intense agony, and almost certain death The sinewy arms of the Indians could throw these sharp-pointed weapons with almost the precision and force of a bullet, and. .. Expeditions. De Soto's desire for Peace. Capture of Capafi. His Escape. Embarrassments of De Soto. Letter of Isabella. Exploration of the Coast. Discovery of the Bay of Pensacola. Testimony Respecting Cofachiqui. The March Resumed 199 CHAPTER XIII 17 CHAPTER XIII Lost in the Wilderness Incidents at Achise. Arrival at Cofa. Friendly Reception by Cofaqui. The Armed Retinue. Commission of Patofa. Splendors of the. .. VII The Execution of the Inca, and Embarrassments of De Soto Pledges of Pizarro. His Perfidy. False Mission of De Soto. Execution of the Inca. His Fortitude. Indignation of De Soto. Great Embarrassments. Extenuating Considerations. Arrival of Almagro. March Towards the Capital 107 11 CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER VIII De Soto Returns to Spain Dreadful Fate of Chalcukima. His Fortitude. Ignominy of Pizarro. De . XVIII. CHAPTER XIX. Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the by John S. C. Abbott The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the Mississippi, . 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